Meanwhile, they continued with the daytime surveillance to see what they could learn. Nothing had happened during the three hours they had been monitoring the house, but then, for the first time, they saw some sign of movement. The front door opened and a middle-aged woman, dressed in full nurse’s attire, made her way towards the front gates. As she reached the wooden hut, the security guard stepped out, and they appeared to enjoy a friendly exchange for a few seconds before he returned to the guardhouse and opened the electric gates. The nurse crossed the road and walked directly towards the café where the two detectives were based. As soon as she passed their pavement table, they rose as one and began to follow her on foot. Other than a quick stop-off at a small supermarket to pick up a few groceries, she made her way directly home. She lived in a small apartment located above a parade of shops about a ten-minute walk from El Negus.

As she opened her bag and reached for her door keys, Vargas and Hembury approached. Vargas held his badge clasped in his right hand so he could immediately show her his ID.

“Excuse me, Señora. My name is Chief Inspector Vargas from the Buenos Aires Police Department and this is my colleague. We’d like to have a brief chat with you about an investigation we are currently working on which has brought us to El Calafate.”

Nurse Andrea Gabriel felt her face flush bright red, and she instinctively felt scared, even though she had no idea why the police wanted to interview her. She studied the badge for a few moments and then put her key in the front door lock. “You’d better come in, inspector.”

A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting in her cosy living room. Vargas was running the questioning.

“Señora Gabriel, I’d like you to tell us who lives in El Negus and what your work entails, and also why the house needs an armed security guard?”

The nurse had regained her composure and her response was surprisingly feisty. “What is the purpose of your investigation?”

“Señora, it’s my job to ask the questions, so please cooperate, and we will be out of here before you know it.”

Having been firmly put back in her place, she agreed to help the chief inspector. “I’m a private nurse and I’ve worked at the house since 1999. I attend to the owner, Señora Suarez. She has been confined to a wheelchair for the last ten years and suffers from a slow degenerative condition that is similar to Parkinson’s disease. She takes complex medication, which I administer every day. I work from eight until six and then a night nurse arrives at eight and I relieve her every morning.”

“Thank you, Señora. Who else lives inside the house and why the need for the guard?”